Maximum PC - UK (2020-03)

THE LIME GREEN GLOW and marketing

hyperbole of Razer’s peripherals have

been around since the earth’s mantle

first cooled and simple lifeforms began

appearing. The Boomslang mouse was

there at the turn of the millennium,

when we first got interested in playing

games against other people, live, on the

Internet, and it remains as iconic as it is

preposterously named.

Since those early days in the gaming

peripherals market, the competition’s

heated up considerably, but Razer

remains a big player thanks not just to

quality mice, keyboards, and audio gear,

but marketing and really, really fancy

packaging. So, it’s no surprise to see the

$180 Kraken Ultimate headset arrive

in a box covered in spot UV treatment

and pithy slogans such as “Make sound

your weapon.” If anything, it’s slightly

disappointing not to be welcomed to “the

cult of Razer” by the inner packaging,

as the pre-Ultimate iterations of its

headsets used to do, but we’ll work past

it. Its packaging is smartly presented;

this is what we’re trying to say.

So, too, is the headset itself,

resplendent with an underglow of RGB

around both earcups and a bright

RGB Razer logo in the center of each

one. Good-quality artificial leather

surrounds two very generous

memory foam pads around the

contact points, and while the

memory foam is actually quite

thin under the headband, it’s

still very comfortable thanks to

the band’s broad dimensions.

A Razer logo lies imprinted on

the top of the headband, also

finished in artificial leather,

while an aluminum frame

holds the whole unit

together. At 14oz, it’s

not going for the

featherweight

category, but

as silly as it

may sound, it

feels like a light 14oz

when it’s on your head.

The cushioning is ample

for glasses-wearers to

Some iconic cans get the luxury treatment—and

they’re worth the extra outlay

Razer Kraken Ultimate

9

VERDICT Razer Kraken Ultimate

SQUIDS IN Booming low end;

incredible clarity, smart design.

A RUM DO Short cable;

awkward mic muting.

$180, http://razer.com

SPECIFICATIONS

Driver Type 50mm neodymium

Impedance 32 ohms

Frequency Response 20Hz–20KHz

Design Style Closed back

Microphone Type Noise-canceling

electret condenser

Connectivity USB

Weight 14oz

Cord Length 2 metres

maintain their spectacles while playing,

and although this reviewer still prefers

SteelSeries’s ski-goggle headband

design for long-term comfort, the Kraken

is still up to the task when it comes to

marathon sessions.

EXTRAS ORDINARY

For a model bearing the “Ultimate”

nomenclature, it’s a relatively barebones

package—one 2m braided cable

connects the headset to your PC via

USB, and with no inline remote, the only

controls are a volume wheel on the rear

of the left earcup and a toggle switch for

surround sound (don’t bother) just above

it. The mic mute switch is placed right on

the mic itself, and a red light band clicks

on when you do mute it. It’s here where

our only real misgivings lie—this is an

expensive headset, and it’s not working

ver y hard to entice you with added ex tr as.

The cable’s a bit short for our liking, and

we can’t get on with having to press the

mic itself to mute it—often several times

before we’re sure it’s actually muted. No,

this is a headset that lives and dies on its

comfort and sound quality alone.

Let’s get to the heart of the matter:

These cans sound incredible. For a long

time, “50mm drivers” was marketing

talk for “too much bass,” but the custom-

tuned neodymium 50mm monsters here

h a v e i n s a n e l e v e l s o f c l a r i t y, w h i c h s i m p l y

aren’t diminished by all the low end.

It’s a brilliantly tuned tone, unsuitable

for monitoring audio recording and the

like—but that was never the point. Load

up a game with explosions, crashes,

gunfire, and/or raised voices, and there’s

no way you’ll be disappointed.

What really stands out, though, is how

well these headphones articulate music.

There’s a vibrancy higher up the EQ

that lets you pick out details that might

have previously been inaudible on other

equipment, such as pick scrapes and

voice cracks. And if you dare introduce

any EDM with sub-bass in the mix to your

ears, you’ll hear just how meaty the low-

end response is. And as much as Razer’s

bloated software suite makes you want

to lambast it, even the mic sounds

fantastic on this model, so we’ve simply

no recourse to its virtues. –PHIL IWANIUK

maximumpc.com MAR 2020 MAXIMUMPC 89